Battery-box.



C. A. MAHLA.

BATTERY BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6, 1913.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

awuzwtoz C a. mah Za wi/tueooao Boxes; and I do sneer-es a. MAHLA, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

BATTERY-BOX.

speciflation of Letters Patent.

Patented Nam-4, 1913.

Appncationmed' Mambo, 191a. Sc1 iaI--No.'752,'525.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that L'CHARLES A. MAI-ILA, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Batteryhereby declare the "following to be a full, clear, and'exact description of the invention, such-as will enable others skilled in'the art towhi'ch it appertal ns'to make and use the same.

This invention comprehends improvements in battery boxes and relates "more particularly to dry battery boxes of the type shown in my United Stat-es Patent No. Set3,904.

The primary object of the invention resides in the provision of a battery box-which shall be free from all wired connections, which may be used in connection withany of the commercial types of dry batteries for ringing bells, driving fans, etc, and which is provided upon the tinder side of its cover with a plurality of spring contacts.

The invention also aims to generally improve dry battery boxes to render them more simple, more useful, and more commercially desirable.

With these and other objects in view, as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invent-ion consists in. certain novel features of construction, oombt' nation, and arrangement of parts, as'will be hereinafter described and claimed.

For a, complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the follow-' ing description and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a battery box constructed in accordance with my invention, parts thereof being shown in elevation, Fig. 2 is a top plan View with the cover open, and, Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of one of the connections to be described later.

While I have shown my invention embodied in an alarm similar to the one disclosed in my former patent, it is to be understood that the battery box is capable of a much more general use and I do not wish to be limited to this specific application.

Referring in detail to the drawings by numerals, 5 designates a casing which is preferably in the form of a wooden box of rectan-gular cross section and provided with a cover 6 hinged, as indicated at 7.

8 designatesa dry battery of any common type'havingone pole indicated by the binding post 9 and another pole 10.

Anelectro-magnetic bell 11 is secured to the exterior of the box by means of the screws 12 and 13, having nuts 14 threaded upon the inner ends thereof. The screw 13"extends through the base plate of the bell and through the'wall of the box and is insulated from the'for'mer by the sleeve 14'. A wired-5 is secured to the screw 13 by means of a nut 16 and represents one end of a coil which forms a part ofthe electromagnets of the bell. This wire is insulated from the base plate of the bell by a rubber coatingl'l.

A metallic standard 18 is secured-to the top of the box by means of the metal screws 19 and has pivotally-connected between its arms a metallic lever 20, which is adapted to be forced against the pressure of the spring 21 into engagement with a stud 22 which extends inwardly through the cover. A pin 23 extends inwardly through one of the side walls of the cover and is threaded through the stud 22, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The head of thezpin 23 is spaced from the side walls of the cover 6, and a metallic hook 24, which is pivotally secured to the metallic base of the hell by a suitable fastener 25', isadapted to lockingly engage 'said pin to hold the cover in its closed posi tion.

A spring contact strip, generally designated 26, is secured to the inner side of the cover by means of suitable fasteners 27 and extends inwardly and to one side of the box, as indicated at 28, and is then bent up wardly, as indicated at 29, so that when the cover is closed the strip will engage the binding post 9 and nut 14. A' contact plate 30 is connected to the screws. 19 by the nuts 31 and is formed with the spring arm 32, which, when the cover is closed engages the pole 10 of the battery.

33 designates an angular arm which '18 adapted to support the battery box by en gaging over a door knob, and 34: designates a loop which, catches on the shank of the door knob when the latter is turned, whereby the lever 20 is thrown into engagement with the stud 22.

When the cover is secured in its closed position by the hook 24, a circuit from the battery through the bell is closed by bringing the lever 20 into contact with the stud 22. When this has been done, current may flow from the binding post 9 through the contact strip 28 and nut 14 to the screw 13, thn through the coils of the electro-magnets, the metallic base of the bell, the hook 24 and its connections, and back to the battery box by way of the lever 20 and contact plate 30. When the device is not being used as a burglar alarm, the hook 33 and loop 34 may be dispensed with and any suitable means employed for connecting the standard 19 and stud 22. In place of the bell 11, I may substitute any desired device or may connect any electrically operated object in circuit with the screw 13 and hook 24.

From the foregoing description ,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will. be seen that I have designated a very simple dry battery box so constructed as to eliminate all wired connections, thus making it possible to easily and quickly remove or insert a battery.

It is to be understood that while I have shown and described the referred embodiment of my invention, I 0 not wish to be limited to this exact construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, but ma make such changes as will fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A battery box having a hinged cover, contact members carried by said cover and adapted to engage the poles of a battery within the box, a terminal member extending into the box and adapted to be engaged by one of said contact members, means for locking the cover in its closed position, said means forming a second exterior terminal, and circuit closing means positioned upon the cover of the box.

2. A battery box having a hinged cover, spring contact members carried by said cover and ada ted to engage the poles of a battery wit in the box, a terminal member extending through the wall of the box to engage one of said contact members, means for locking the cover in its closed position, said means forming an exterior terminal, and circuit closing means carried by the cover for engagement with said fastening means.

3. The combination with a battery box having a hinged cover, of a battery positioned within said box, spring contact members carried by the cover and adapted to engage the poles of said battery, a screw extending through the wall of the battery box, a fastener secured upon the inner end of said screw and adapted to engage one of said contact members, said screw forming an exterior terminal, a hook pivoted to the box and forming the other exterior terminal, means carried by the cover for engagement b said hook whereby the cover is held in its clbsed position, and circuit closing means positioned upon the cover.

4:. In combination, a battery box, a battery positioned therein, movable contact members carried in said box for engagement with the pole of the battery, a terminal member extending into the box and engaging one of the contact members, means for locking the contact members in engagement with thepoles of the battery, said means including a pivoted member, and circuit closing Lneans positioned upon the exterior of the In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. MAHLA.

Witnesses:v

WALTER A. MOLONEY, J. M. DARDIO. 

